New fiver destroyed and reveals bizarre transformation

An experiment has shown that the new five pound notes which came into circulation last year are far from indestructible.

The Bank of England is in the process of replacing paper notes with new, polymer-based ones which are much hardier. The five pound note has been replaced first, with others to follow.

But how hardy are the old and new notes really? Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff, a chemist at the University of Nottingham, was curious to find out.

Poliakoff and his team decided to push the new fiver to its limits by exposing it to extreme conditions. The first note they attack is dipped in liquid nitrogen and then smashed with a hammer.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't survive.

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Photo credit: Periodic Videos

Next Poliakoff's team suspends an old fiver and new fiver in "fuming nitric acid", a highly corrosive liquid which is used as a rocket propellant. "Quite a witch's brew", the Professor calls it.

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Photo credit: Periodic Videos

The fuming nitric acid has a curious effect on the old bank note: it nitrated it, making it super flammable.

When set alight, the old thing goes up with a whoosh. It doesn't even leave behind ash.

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Photo credit: Periodic Videos

The new note suffers an equally curious fate. Firstly, the fuming nitric acid seems to melt the the Queen's face from the surface.

Die-hard royalists look away now to avoid a case of roy-rage.

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Photo credit: Periodic Videos

What the scientists are left with once Lizzie has finished dripping herself from the note's surface is a sheet of transparent plastic.

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Photo credit: Periodic Videos

Needless to say, spending that fiver will now prove impossible, even though it hasn't been consumed by fire or shattered by cold.

It's worth watching the full video, narrated by the instantly likeable Sir Martyn.

Destroying money in a world where huge numbers of people struggle to meet basic needs could seem callous, so in order to even things out, the University of Nottingham team donated money to charity equal to that which was destroyed.